Anyone get a stimulus check already? Curious.

[Traveling on cc points]

Maybe this isn't the place for this pity party. You make enough money that you don't even qualify for the stimulus checks meanwhile millions are literally waiting in food lines and will get $600 that will cover half of a month of rent if they are lucky. And your concern is that your taxes might slightly go up, pretty gross, but I guess not surprising.

Judgmental much? Depending on where you live in the country, 75k/150k a year is not a great living. Here in Connecticut with our taxes and very high cost of living,150k for a couple is in the mid middle class range. We are fortunate that we haven’t lost our jobs during this whole mess and don’t need the $1200 but it doesn’t make us gross that we are concerned about our taxes going up because thousand upon thousands of people will be getting another check without any loss of income.

I haven’t read 1 comment that said that people who lost their jobs and are in real need of the money shouldn’t get it but the 75k/150k is an arbitrary number that doesn’t take variables like where you live or if you lost your job. Why should a couple who hasn’t lost their jobs making 149k get a $1200 check?

 

[mefordis]

Yes I have had Government cheese. The people who it was intended for didn't want it so the food banks were begging people to take it. Best cheddar cheese I have ever had.

It's processed cheese product. Not cheddar by a long shot.

 

[tvguy]

Theoretically yes, but there's always the possibility of getting a note from the IRS or state tax agency if they see certain distributions or for other reasons. I know someone who had a California professional license, but was just living off of savings for a while with a small amount of more or less passive income. The California FTB sent a letter and she had to put down approximate income that was less than the filing requirement. The letter specifically noted that it was sent because of the professional license.

I filed late before when I knew that I had a refund due. Had a hard time getting some info and I didn't want to file an amended return later. The IRS might complain, but there are no penalties for filing late as long as nothing is owed.

My neighbors retired early and are living off savings, waiting to take Social Security until full retirement age. The biggest advantage with no taxable income, they qualify for huge subsidies through Covered California on their health insurance.
I grew up with parents who worked very hard to find every legal away to lower their taxes. And to set up all their affairs so that when they passed there would be no Probate. That is a mindset I have to this day. I was sweating it a bit when my mom passed away and I went to close escrow on the sale of her house and the (very young) escrow agent looked at her trust on the house, it was half a page long. He said it was the first one he had seen less than about 30 pages and was concerned it would be an issue. He faxed it to their attorney, apparently an older guy who looked at it and recognized it as the trusts that the Country Registrar used to offer property owners 40 year ago. It met all the legal requirements and other than the $25 filing fee, cost nothing. Registrar had to stop doing that because lawyers complained that it was taking work away from them.

 

[MamaBelle4]

It's processed cheese product. Not cheddar by a long shot.

If they still sell it, the unmeltable, single wrapped cheese for $0.98 from Walmart is the closest I've found (not that I was looking for it )

 

[Farro]

Mmmmmm, processed cheese...

For real though, I'm not above Velveeta.

 

[tvguy]

It's processed cheese product. Not cheddar by a long shot.

I volunteer at the Food bank. The bricks of cheese we give out are sharp cheddar cheese made under USDA contract by Tillamook. Not saying the USDA doesn't contract for processed cheese product, but I've never seen it here. We run a hot lunch program and I've made a LOT of grilled cheese sandwiches with that cheddar cheese.
Just like the USDA commodity canned fruit and vegetables we give out. Canned by major processors, just has a USDA label on it instead of the brand name.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Judgmental much? Depending on where you live in the country, 75k/150k a year is not a great living. Here in Connecticut with our taxes and very high cost of living,150k for a couple is in the mid middle class range. We are fortunate that we haven’t lost our jobs during this whole mess and don’t need the $1200 but it doesn’t make us gross that we are concerned about our taxes going up because thousand upon thousands of people will be getting another check without any loss of income.

I haven’t read 1 comment that said that people who lost their jobs and are in real need of the money shouldn’t get it but the 75k/150k is an arbitrary number that doesn’t take variables like where you live or if you lost your job. Why should a couple who hasn’t lost their jobs making 149k get a $1200 check?

But even that is judgmental because you don't know how their 2020 situation has been going. It's based off of 2019 still because that's literally the way how. Now from what I read for your 2020 taxes if you would have qualified for the stimulus later on due to income drop/job loss there's supposed to be a way to account for that but I haven't gone in depth in looking at that.

I'm not saying you don't have a concern, I mentioned on another thread that here we often just raise taxes (sales or property in that context in this context income) rather than look at how we spend. We should be mad at the government for how they spend our tax dollars in other facets of day to day life demanding that they spend more responsibly instead of looking to get any gap immediately from their citizens.

But this is one place, right now during a pandemic, where if only those in power stopped fighting over crap they could actually help their citizens out..it's also why people will look unfavorably on those who seem a bit more concerned about taxes than giving financial need to citizens en masse. It's not so much that you don't have a reason to be concerned, to me at least, but that the price to be paid right now for many of us is worth it. If you're (general you) are concerned about debt for generations you shouldn't be looking at these stimulus payments as the reason for it.

 

[b2k1121]

Judgmental much? Depending on where you live in the country, 75k/150k a year is not a great living. Here in Connecticut with our taxes and very high cost of living,150k for a couple is in the mid middle class range. We are fortunate that we haven’t lost our jobs during this whole mess and don’t need the $1200 but it doesn’t make us gross that we are concerned about our taxes going up because thousand upon thousands of people will be getting another check without any loss of income.

I haven’t read 1 comment that said that people who lost their jobs and are in real need of the money shouldn’t get it but the 75k/150k is an arbitrary number that doesn’t take variables like where you live or if you lost your job. Why should a couple who hasn’t lost their jobs making 149k get a $1200 check?

First, it's a stimulus and middle to low income families will spend all of it right back into the economy instead of saving it, if you means test it so only those that need it the most get a check it will be delayed, some that need it will still be left out and it won't have the same effects on the economy.

Second, based on that post and the post the individual was replying to it certainly didn't seem like they were concerned with means testing or families getting a check that didn't need it. It was 'I wish they would stop sending out money' and 'Now I'm going to be the one that pays for it'. Whether it was meant or not that comes across as 'I got mine, screw everyone else'.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Mmmmmm, processed cheese...

For real though, I'm not above Velveeta.

One thing I learned about my husband's family is Velveeta is their go to..Sargento is next..I grew up on Kraft so my taste palette is way different

 

[bcla]

My neighbors retired early and are living off savings, waiting to take Social Security until full retirement age. The biggest advantage with no taxable income, they qualify for huge subsidies through Covered California on their health insurance.
I grew up with parents who worked very hard to find every legal away to lower their taxes. And to set up all their affairs so that when they passed there would be no Probate. That is a mindset I have to this day. I was sweating it a bit when my mom passed away and I went to close escrow on the sale of her house and the (very young) escrow agent looked at her trust on the house, it was half a page long. He said it was the first one he had seen less than about 30 pages and was concerned it would be an issue. He faxed it to their attorney, apparently an older guy who looked at it and recognized it as the trusts that the Country Registrar used to offer property owners 40 year ago. It met all the legal requirements and other than the $25 filing fee, cost nothing. Registrar had to stop doing that because lawyers complained that it was taking work away from them.

Your neighbors likely qualify for Medi-Cal, but they probably don't want to deal with the limited providers.

My parents are that way. My mom asked me to help drive her to her tax preparer, and to bring my return (prepared with consumer tax software) before I filed it. She was convinced that he could find something to increase my refund. He looked it over, said I'd been pretty thorough, and his services would be a waste.

 

[mefordis]

Judgmental much? Depending on where you live in the country, 75k/150k a year is not a great living. Here in Connecticut with our taxes and very high cost of living,150k for a couple is in the mid middle class range. We are fortunate that we haven’t lost our jobs during this whole mess and don’t need the $1200 but it doesn’t make us gross that we are concerned about our taxes going up because thousand upon thousands of people will be getting another check without any loss of income.

I haven’t read 1 comment that said that people who lost their jobs and are in real need of the money shouldn’t get it but the 75k/150k is an arbitrary number that doesn’t take variables like where you live or if you lost your job. Why should a couple who hasn’t lost their jobs making 149k get a $1200 check?

Here is an example: I know a retired couple worth several million who are getting this stimulus money because they show under 150k income in their tax returns. (They are asset rich.) Many people who own businesses get the stimulus checks because of the creative accounting they do, write offs, etc. If it were going to people who really need it that would be one thing. And it will be our kids and their kids paying for it, so let's not pretend this isn't hurting generations down the road.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

If that's because you make over 75k, or 150k jointly, that's a good thing.

Phases out above that. Those are just the lines for a full check.

This is for the last stimulus so the dollar amounts are double but the same limits were used:

But isn’t it also to stimulate that economy so if ppl who don’t really “need” spend it b/c it’s extra money to them, doesn’t that help everyone? It’s called a stimulus after all.

Eh, maybe. The problem is people like me who take a check like that and just throw it in investments.

The stimulus is also a bit early in both cases as we're still somewhat in lockdowns. Amazon and other online shops are doing a hell of a business around these stimulus checks. It really would be preferential to wait until we are free to travel and shop like 2019 as the businesses hurting the most are still closed in many areas.

 

[Heather07438]

I think this is what comes to mind for most people about gov't chz and PB.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_cheese

 

[mefordis]

Phases out above that. Those are just the lines for a full check.

This is for the last stimulus so the dollar amounts are double but the same limits were used:
View attachment 547275

Eh, maybe. The problem is people like me who take a check like that and just throw it in investments.

The stimulus is also a bit early in both cases as we're still somewhat in lockdowns. Amazon and other online shops are doing a hell of a business around these stimulus checks. It really would be preferential to wait until we are free to travel and shop like 2019 as the businesses hurting the most are still closed in many areas.

I'd use it for bitcoin. Made 20k from crypto since Oct - my very first crypto investment. Not bad so far.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Here is an example: I know a retired couple worth several million who are getting this stimulus money because they show under 150k income in their tax returns. (They are asset rich.) Many people who own businesses get the stimulus checks because of the creative accounting they do, write offs, etc. If it were going to people who really need it that would be one thing. And it will be our kids and their kids paying for it, so let's not pretend this isn't hurting generations down the road.

That is because of tax laws.

Y'all are really mad over the wrong thing. It's not the stimulus that is the problem. It's how the government spends money and in your point above it's how tax write offs allow some people a means to show much less tax liability than they should have. But y'all keep complaining about the stimulus instead of the actual root causes for your complaint....

 

[LSUmiss]

Judgmental much? Depending on where you live in the country, 75k/150k a year is not a great living. Here in Connecticut with our taxes and very high cost of living,150k for a couple is in the mid middle class range. We are fortunate that we haven’t lost our jobs during this whole mess and don’t need the $1200 but it doesn’t make us gross that we are concerned about our taxes going up because thousand upon thousands of people will be getting another check without any loss of income.

I haven’t read 1 comment that said that people who lost their jobs and are in real need of the money shouldn’t get it but the 75k/150k is an arbitrary number that doesn’t take variables like where you live or if you lost your job. Why should a couple who hasn’t lost their jobs making 149k get a $1200 check?

It’s also to stimulate the economy even if you don’t see direct benefit right away. A deep recession or depression is bad for everyone.

 

[tvguy]

Your neighbors likely qualify for Medi-Cal, but they probably don't want to deal with the limited providers.

My parents are that way. My mom asked me to help drive her to her tax preparer, and to bring my return (prepared with consumer tax software) before I filed it. She was convinced that he could find something to increase my refund. He looked it over, said I'd been pretty thorough, and his services would be a waste.

No Medi-cal. Just Covered California. You can't have more than $3,000 (as a couple) in assets to qualify Medi-cal. Covered California only looks at income.
My CPA loves consumer tax software. He is making some good money filing amended returns during the off season for things that consumer software got wrong.

 

[georgina]

We fall into the category of retirees who will get it but don't need it. I have already made donations to my local food bank and community outreach center in anticipation of getting the money. As to someone upthread who said our kids will be paying for it, true, but that also applies to the tax cut which benefitted rich folks and increased the national deficit.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Mmmmmm, processed cheese...

For real though, I'm not above Velveeta.

I eat all cheese. This is a no judgment zone!

 

[LSUmiss]

Here is an example: I know a retired couple worth several million who are getting this stimulus money because they show under 150k income in their tax returns. (They are asset rich.) Many people who own businesses get the stimulus checks because of the creative accounting they do, write offs, etc. If it were going to people who really need it that would be one thing. And it will be our kids and their kids paying for it, so let's not pretend this isn't hurting generations down the road.

That’s the nature of economics in the US. The rich often find ways to stay richer. It is what it is. Hence the huge wealth gap in this country. I’m all for a complete overall of our tax system to make this less possible, BUT a stimulus that will help the economy & tons of ppl who absolutely need it during a world-wide pandemic is not the time to start that process. Sure sounds like most ppl complaining are just bitter b/c they don’t qualify.